


All That Matters

by jackabelle73



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 10:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackabelle73/pseuds/jackabelle73
Summary: The first few moments after the residents of Storybrooke are unexpectedly swept away to the Enchanted Forest. Belle POV, one-shot.





	All That Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @mariequitecontrarie on Tumblr for beta'ing this for me!

Belle’s knees hit the ground with a painful, teeth-grinding thump. She barely registered the assault to her joints before Gideon’s cry split the air.

“Oh, sweetheart…. are you alright?” She cuddled him close, making comforting shushing sounds, before holding him far enough away to unwrap his blankets and inspect him for injury. She was vaguely aware of the others standing up around her, and called for her husband without looking up, too preoccupied with simultaneously looking over and reassuring her six-month-old. There were no visible marks on him, and the angry way his limbs thrashed around indicated that everything was still working.

He let out another ear-piercing scream and Belle winced. _Nothing wrong with his lungs._

Relieved, she rewrapped him against the chill of the early-morning air, and stood up, nearly catching her foot in her layers of petticoats and long skirts. She hadn’t worn a dress like this since Camelot; it was going to take a bit of getting used to again. Looking down to inspect the rest of her outfit, she realized that her bodice laced tightly up the front, and groaned. That was going to be hell to unlace and re-lace every time Gideon needed to nurse. She’d have to ask Rumple if he could transform it into something easier.

“Rumple?” she called again, looking for him in the crowd around her. She fought the beginning of panic when she didn’t see him immediately.

Gideon’s cries tapered to a whimper. Poor baby. He didn’t understand the recent events that had swept him from his familiar life in Storybrooke to this small clearing in the Enchanted Forest. Belle didn’t understand it herself; they’d had no warning before the magic swept them up. Had the entire population of Storybrooke been transported, or only some of them? She’d been in the shop talking to Rumple when it happened. He’d been holding aside the curtain that led into the back room so she could sit on the cot and feed Gideon. Rumple _should_ have been right next to her when they landed here.

She raised Gideon to her shoulder, patting him on the back and whispering soothing nonsense to him in an attempt to calm them both as she scanned the crowd. Snow and Charming with baby Neal were just a few feet away. Three of the dwarves were gathered around them, ready to defend against any threat. Where were the other four? Further back in the group she saw Granny, being helped up by Ruby. A cricket chirped from Ruby’s shoulder…. was that Archie? She looked to the other side and found Hook and Emma embracing as if they’d just been reunited. Ashley and Sean held Alexandra between them in a family hug.

“Rumple? Rumple, where are you?” she shouted over the increasing babble of voices around her. Regina’s voice carried over the crowd as well.

“Henry! Has anyone seen Henry?” Regina nearly knocked over Bashful and brushed by Belle on her way to her son’s other mother, intimidating in her Evil Queen regalia. “Emma! Henry’s not here!”

“Neither is Rumple,” Belle reported, before Emma could respond.

“I’m not exactly worried about Rumple,” Regina snapped.

“Aye, the Crocodile can take care of himself,” Hook added.

“But we need to find Henry,” Emma said to Regina, tugging at her bodice. Whatever magic brought them here had given Emma a long dress as well, and she didn’t seem entirely comfortable in it. “He’s not used to the dangers of the Enchanted Forest. Do we have anything of his for a locator spell?”

“Anything of his I might have had on me in Storybrooke would have been swept away by the same spell that brought us here and changed our clothes,” Regina answered impatiently. “My immediate concern is whether Henry is here at all, or back in Storybrooke by himself.”

“You think the spell left him there? But how–”

“Rumple and Henry could have landed together in a group, just like we did,” Belle interrupted. “Half the dwarves are missing, and I don’t see Ariel and Eric, or Geppetto and August…. the rest of them have to be somewhere. Hopefully, Rumple and Henry are with them.”

Regina gave her a scathing look. “There’s no reason to assume any of them landed together.”

“But if they did, Rumple will take care of Henry till you can find them.”

Regina merely rolled her eyes before asking, “Has it occurred to you to simply _summon_ your husband?”

Belle simply stared at her for a moment before she gathered her wits. Of course! The obvious solution had escaped her in her panic.

“Rumplestiltskin, Rumplestiltskin, Rumplestiltskin!” she called loudly, and waited, holding her breath. She adjusted her hold on Gideon so he lay in the crook of her arm. One second, two, three…. on four, she could feel the magic behind her. She turned and threw herself at him, confident that he would catch her.

“Belle, are you alright? I was so worried – is Gideon okay?” His arms wrapped around her, and the tightness in her throat immediately eased. She returned the embrace one-armed, trying to hug Rumple as close as possible without crushing their baby between them.

“Yes, we’re both fine,” she answered, her voice muffled against his coat. His…dragonhide coat. It’d been a while since she’d felt _that_ texture when she hugged him. She sagged against him in relief, uncaring about the change in his wardrobe or appearance, or where they were…. she had her husband and her baby in her arms, and that was all that mattered.

Pushing back with one hand on his chest, she felt the outline of the dagger inside his coat. That particular worry hadn’t even occurred to her, till she knew it was safely in his possession.

Even knowing what she would see when she looked at his face, the effect was startling. Greenish-gold skin, oddly striated eyes bulging out a bit from his face, and messy curls had replaced the human coloring and warm brown eyes of his Storybrooke persona. The man in front of her now looked the same as the Dark imp she’d first met, but it had been so long.

Her free hand brushed his curls back gently as she met his eyes. Her heart twisted when she saw uncertainty there. Was he really afraid she would object to his appearance? Determined to waylay that concern immediately, she stood up on her toes to kiss him but barely managed to make contact before Gideon whimpered.

Before Belle could do more than glance down at him, he was being lifted from her arms, and Gideon’s protest cut off abruptly as he stared at his father. Belle held her breath, waiting. It would crush Rumple if their son feared his appearance.

“Nothing to fear, m’boy. I’m still your Papa,” Rumple said softly to their baby, who responded with a questioning gurgle. Little hands reached out to pat Rumple’s cheeks, then he grabbed his hair. Belle certainly understood the impulse, but wasn’t willing to sacrifice those curls to a baby’s curiosity. She pried the chubby fingers loose carefully, and kept one hand in Rumple’s hair as he held Gideon to his shoulder and bounced gently, patting his back and saying in a sing-song voice, “It’s all right, my darling. Papa’s here.”

Belle reached out to stroke their baby’s head, adding the comfort of her touch. With a last hiccupping sigh, he laid his head on his father’s shoulder and seemed to give up. Better to go to sleep and hope that the world would sort itself out before he woke up, he seemed to say. Their son settled for the moment, Belle pulled Rumple’s head down to her for the kiss that had been interrupted before.

He even smelled and tasted different here…. less of expensive toiletries and tailor-made suits, more of outdoor smells like medicinal plants and campfire smoke, and a musk that she associated with his more oily skin. She was licking at his bottom lip, trying to gain entrance to his mouth so she could taste him better – she’d only ever kissed him once like this, and that first kiss had been so brief – when she became aware of a gagging noise behind her.

“I suppose there’s no accounting for taste,” Hook’s voice carried. “I mean, it could be worse…she could be kissing an _actual_ crocodile.”

Her husband went rigid under her hands, and he pulled away from her, no doubt ready to incinerate Hook with a glance.

“Rumple, don’t,” Belle warned, and placed a finger over his lips before he could protest. “You’re not going to start a fight while holding our baby, and Hook’s opinion doesn’t matter. Does it?”

His gaze softened as he looked down at Gideon, asleep on his shoulder, and back to Belle, who gave him an encouraging smile. She tugged his head down to whisper in his ear.

“I hope you have ideas about creating private shelter for us tonight—because I can’t wait to explore under this dragonhide coat.” She dropped a kiss under his ear before murmuring, “And inside these leather pants. So tell me…. will you be thinking about anyone else’s opinion tonight?”

“Of course not.” His voice had gone even higher than his normal imp voice.

“What matters is that we’re together. We’ll deal with everything else, as long as we have each other, and Gideon.”

She raised up on her toes to kiss him again, aware of eyes on her back but defiantly ignoring them.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Regina’s voice came from right next to them, loud enough to make Belle think that she wasn’t all that sorry. “Rumple, I need to know if you’ve seen Henry.”

He pulled away from the kiss again, turning to Regina. Emma stood by her side, both of them radiating worry.

“Henry’s not here?”

“We’re missing several people,” Emma reported. “We were hoping Henry landed with you.”

“No. But–” He held up a dramatic finger, lengthened by the long nails he now sported. “I know how to find him.”

“What’s the price?” Regina asked, hands on hips and eyes narrowed at him.

Rumple passed Gideon to Belle and stepped closer to Regina, till they were almost nose to nose. His voice was low and every word sincere.

“You forget, dearie. Henry isn’t just your son. Or yours,” he nodded to Emma. “He’s my grandson. I don’t want him facing the dangers of this world on his own, any more than you do.”

With no warning, reached out and snatched several hairs from Emma’s head.

“Ow! You could have asked, Gold!”

“That’s not my name here, dearie.” He didn’t bother looking at her, focused on rolling the hairs between his palms. When he parted them, the hairs suspended between his hands sparked then glowed for a moment before coalescing into a ball of light, which he sent upward with a flick of his fingers. The ball hovered over their heads before moving toward the woods. “Now just follow it,” he instructed Emma and Regina. “It will lead you to Henry.”

They set off after the glowing ball, which had begun moving faster as it approached the edge of the forest. They never even entered the woods though, because Henry came bursting out of them, running toward his mothers.

The three of them met in a confusion of hugs and exclamations, and Belle smiled to see another family reunited. Several more people came out of the woods at a more sedate pace, including the missing dwarves, and Ariel holding hands with Eric.

“We were so worried, we didn’t know where you were,” Regina said.

“Are you alright?” Emma demanded, cupping Henry’s face in her hands.

“Yeah, Moms. I’m fine.”

“We were on our way to find you,” Regina said. “Gold — Rumple I mean – cast a spell with strands of Emma’s hair.”

At the mention of his grandfather, Henry looked past his mothers and saw him, and his face went slack in amazement. He extricated himself from his mothers to approach Rumplestiltskin.

“Grandpa?”

“It’s me.” Rumple spread his arms wide, presenting himself for appraisal.

A wondering smile spread slowly across Henry’s face. “I’ve seen the pictures in my book, but…you’re so different in person. May I?” He reached out a hand for Rumple’s, and stroked across the back of his hand, studying the unusual hue of his skin. “Could you look like this in Storybrooke? Or is it only here?”

Rumple shrugged carelessly. “I can look like anyone I want to.”

“Oh my gosh, Moms!” Henry turned to call them. “We have to get back home in time for Halloween. I wanna see all the little kids’ reactions when Grandpa answers the door looking like this!”

Snow and David walked up, and Henry turned to greet them.

“Well, as long as we have all our priorities straight,” Belle murmured to Rumple, causing him to giggle as Snow and David hugged Henry.

“Well, since it looks like most people are here, maybe we should get a head count?” David suggested. He raised his voice. “Everyone gather over here, please!”

Gideon stirred in Belle’s arms, letting out a whine as he burrowed deeper into her body, his small mouth opening and closing.

Belle held her breath as her body responded to Gideon’s rooting, as if that would stop the milk from letting down, when she knew from experience that it wouldn’t.

“Rumple…”

“Hmm?” He was watching Henry with his mothers, who had been joined by Hook. Belle knew that, despite not spending much time with Henry, Rumple cared deeply for the boy. He was the only remaining link he had to Bae.

“Rumple, I was about to feed Gideon when we were pulled away from Storybrooke. He still hasn’t eaten. Can you conjure us some privacy, please?”

He looked down at his son, now mouthing insistently at his mother’s bodice, though his eyes were still closed.

“He does appear rather impatient, doesn’t he? Follow me.”

Ignoring the people gathering around the Charmings, Rumple led them to the edge of the clearing and with a wave, a large tent appeared. He bowed, sweeping his arm out and lifting the flap over the entrance. “Your castle awaits. After you, milady.”

Entering, she found a low cot piled with blankets and pillows, a bassinet, and a table with a jug of water and two cups. A trunk was on the other side of the tent, which she strongly suspected held an entire wardrobe for herself and Gideon.

“It’s perfect, Rumple. Thank you.”

She sat down and began the painstaking task of unlacing the front of her gown, wishing for the relative ease of nursing apparel back in Storybrooke. She fumbled one-handed for only a moment before Rumple’s hands were there, brushing hers aside, and adeptly unlacing her himself. He could have done it with magic, she knew. But he enjoyed the act of undressing her, even if it was just to feed their son.

With Gideon latched on and busily sucking, she reached out a hand for her husband’s. “Do you know what brought us here?”

“No, I don’t.” He sat next to her on the cot, encircling her shoulders and pulling her close. With his other hand, he cupped Gideon’s foot through the blankets, watching him nurse. “Do you mind being back here? Should I start hunting for a magic bean?” His tone was light, but she could tell that he was anxious for her answer.  

Did she? Belle stopped to think about it for a moment. She’d never thought that she would come back to the Enchanted Forest. She’d made a life in Storybrooke with her husband and son, and she enjoyed that life. She enjoyed the modern conveniences there, certainly. Being back in the Enchanted Forest would no doubt take some getting used to, but she could live without indoor plumbing and electric lights. What she couldn’t live without was her family.

Rumple was still waiting for her answer, so Belle smiled at him, her free hand dropping to squeeze his leg.

“Where we live doesn’t matter. Right now, I’m touching everything that’s important to me. We can look for a way back to Storybrooke or stay here, as long as I have you and Gideon.”

She felt him relax as he leaned in to kiss her, and the taste of him was still new, reminding her that the lack of electricity was not the only thing different here. Her fingertips moved higher on his leg, stroking toward his groin, and he broke the kiss to stare at her.

“I meant what I said, about exploring inside these pants,” she whispered to him, enjoying the way his eyes went wide, before she kissed him again.


End file.
